I don't have Faith in God

Sycarton

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I think that the sense of worry that we haven't done enough is good for us. It drives us in prayer to the Lord for Him to search our hearts to make sure that we are genuine and not hypocrites.

The problem people are those who think they have done enough and they start depending on their self-righteousness to remain acceptable to God.

Conversion to Christ is the transformation that the Holy Spirit does in response to our faith and trust in Christ, and our determined and earnest seeking of Him to do the work in us. That is the grace and mercy through faith part.

But once conversion has happened and we have received mercy, forgiveness, and the transformation of our heart, spirit, and mind, then our continuing Christian life is based on what we do. This is what James teaches. He says that true "religion" or Christian living is keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, and looking after needy people. These are the works that show that we are genuinely converted to Christ.

The process is this:
1. We believe the Gospel, repent of all known sin and turn to Christ
2. We seek God for the transformation that comes through conversion.
3. We follow Christ and do the things He tells us to do.

The first two are "being saved by grace, and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God".
The third is reading the Bible and then "doing" it.

After conversion, being strict about holy living is not legalism to try and be acceptable to God, because through conversion we are already acceptable and have the righteousness of Christ, so that God does not see us as sinners any longer.

We are strict because we love Christ and want to be the best we can for Him. Sure, we will have a battle with our fleshly desires and reactions, but we don't let them dominate us, and if we had the choice, we would not want them. They would be like a stone in the shoe, or grit in the eyes - an annoyance to us.

So, cause your sense of not doing enough be the motivation to prayer and getting in the Word of God and tightening your grip on Christ as your only hope. There is a sense of hating yourself, because you have the sentence of death in yourself that you should not trust in yourself, but in God who raises the dead. (somewhere in 2 Corinthians 1).

When I read what you wrote, my first reaction was, "Praise the Lord! Here is a genuine and healthy Christian believer!"


Christ sought out sinners, they didn't seek him. You're making it seem like we have to seek God and wait for his response. We do need to pursue God but He already accepts us through faith

"“Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.” Psalm 23:6 (The Message)

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20"

Our debt has been paid. Therefore we are clean in His sight.

Romans 3:10-12
"10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”"

Yes we need to do what God says but it sounds like you are trying to be righteous by being strict in holiness. Christ is perfect, we are not. Christ makes us righteous because he is.
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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Christ sought out sinners, they didn't seek him. You're making it seem like we have to seek God and wait for his response. We do need to pursue God but He already accepts us through faith

"“Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.” Psalm 23:6 (The Message)

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20"

Our debt has been paid. Therefore we are clean in His sight.

Romans 3:10-12
"10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”"

Yes we need to do what God says but it sounds like you are trying to be righteous by being strict in holiness. Christ is perfect, we are not. Christ makes us righteous because he is.
Jesus gives the invitation and it is up to the sinner to accept it. But that acceptance is not conversion. Conviction of sin is a work of the Holy Spirit in a sinner, and unless that happens, the sinner has no interest in the Gospel at all. He is blinded by the god of this world (the devil). Conviction of sin comes through the preaching of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by signs and wonders. When Peter saw the miracle of the fish performed by Jesus, his first reaction was, "Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man." Peter was a rough and hard fisherman, not the type to embrace religion, but when he saw the miracle, he became convicted of his own sinfulness.

So conviction of sin comes first, then the invitation, which is good news to the convicted sinner. Then there is the acceptance of the invitation, and after that the Holy Spirit converts the sinner into a genuine Christian believer.
 
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Alithis

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OR you could just disregard legalism and open your heart to Jesus.
Romans 10:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Read the word.
What Does the Bible Say About How To Be Saved?
Faith comes by hearing
Because when youhear the word of God you then know what it is you are to DO.

If you dont do it you wont be saved.
God sent the saviour
He said
This is my belived son
Listen to him.

Im pretty sure if a cop tells you you to listen to his partner.. He means DO AS HE Instructs you.
Not just hear and ignore.
 
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disciple Clint

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Absolute holiness or morality in itself does not save us. Only true conversion can save us and that is something that we cannot do ourselves, no matter how strong our profession of Christianity is, or how many times we "accept" Christ, go to church, do Christian activities, even preach the Gospel and pastor churches, speak in tongues, prophesy, try to cast out demons and all the other stuff that Christians do.

I don't think that a lot of people fully realize that just accepting Christ is not conversion or salvation. Christ has to accept us, and that can only come through conversion - and conversion is not automatic. It is a definite work of the Holy Spirit and there is a real and definite transformation in the heart and spirit of a believer. Just saying the sinner's prayer and putting on the Christian "badge" is not enough and a lot of people who do that and no more will find themselves in hell.

Believing the Gospel and turning to Christ is just the first step. Then the believer earnestly seeks God through prayer and the Word until there is the definite experience of conversion and there is absolute and definite evidence that the conversion to Christ has taken place. For God to do this in a person, He has to see clearly that the believer is fully committed to Jesus Christ as total and complete Lord of his life and conduct, otherwise He won't do it, and the professing believer will find the gates of Heaven locked against him. When that believer, in the judgment, asks Christ why he can't come in to Heaven, the Lord will say to him, "You were very religious all right, but you did not give Me your whole heart!"

This is why the gate to eternal life is very narrow, and few there are who find it. I would say that at least 50% of all church goers are just religious and unconverted, because they have depended on their profession of Christianity, and not pressed into God to be fully converted to Christ; therefore they have one foot in the Christian religion and the other foot still firmly planted in the world. And the Scripture says that a friend of the world is no friend of Christ.

I can't express this enough: that true conversion is not something we can do, no matter how religious we are in the Christian faith. We can be utterly and absolutely religious in every respect, but if we are not converted to Christ, we are lost! And God is the only one who can do it in us. And it doesn't happen until the religious person seeks God with all his heart and soul for it and stays waiting on God until it happens. It may have to be sought with tears and pleading until it happens. But when it happens, the truly converted Christian knows all about it, because he knows that God has genuinely transformed him in his heart and spirit.

Then, and only then, does he hunger and thirst after total holiness, without which, he will never see the Lord.

Many, who are actually unconverted and shy away from the strictness of holiness that God requires, use legalism as an excuse for why they think they don't have to be strict about their personal holiness, and use it as an excuse to keep their favourite lust or covetousness.
Paul makes it simple: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. —Romans 10:9-10, ESV

If we have to do more than have faith in Jesus and what He has done then we are depending on things that we do and not what He did. Faith not Works. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.-- Eph 2:8 Not of works, lest any man should boast.- Eph 2:9
 
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disciple Clint

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Faith comes by hearing
Because when youhear the word of God you then know what it is you are to DO.

If you dont do it you wont be saved.
God sent the saviour
He said
This is my belived son
Listen to him.

Im pretty sure if a cop tells you you to listen to his partner.. He means DO AS HE Instructs you.
Not just hear and ignore.
OK so if we have to DO something would we call that work? Well yes that would indeed be work. So are we then being saved by what Jesus did or what we did. Is what Jesus did not sufficient to save us so we have to pitch in and help Him accomplish salvation? Paul makes it abundantly clear, it is faith and not works of any kind that saves us. Jesus made salvation easy just believe in Him, Who He is, and what He did. Why make it complicated, have we not learned from the 613 laws for works that saved no one?
 
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Presbyterian Continuist

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Paul makes it simple: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. —Romans 10:9-10, ESV

If we have to do more than have faith in Jesus and what He has done then we are depending on things that we do and not what He did. Faith not Works. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.-- Eph 2:8 Not of works, lest any man should boast.- Eph 2:9
So, what happens after you have accepted Christ by faith? Does that mean you can do what you like? Go on committing the works of the flesh? Go on sinning and have Christ too?
Best of British luck buddy when you get to the gates of Heaven!
 
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disciple Clint

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So, what happens after you have accepted Christ by faith? Does that mean you can do what you like? Go on committing the works of the flesh? Go on sinning and have Christ too?
Best of British luck buddy when you get to the gates of Heaven!
Paul answered that question because he knew that someone would have to ask.
Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

Romans 6:1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?

I don't need luck buddy, I have faith, But thanks anyway.
Read Romans there is a lot to learn there.

Romans 4:5 - But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

Romans 3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

Philippians 3:9 - And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

2 Cor 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
 
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fat wee robin

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It has remade my thinking in this question, to realize that my God is not the wimpy god who sits around waiting for people's decision to "accept" him. He does not kiss the rear end of "free will".

God is the one who decides whom to save, and he is the one who does the saving. This is what the Bible refers to as regeneration, or being born again, becoming a new creation --it is God in us, and is not the result of our effort nor strength of will, nor the integrity of our heart, nor the size of our intellect. It does not depend on us. But it will inevitably produce evidences, and so there is indeed a need for concerted effort on our part to obey. Yet even that is the work of God, and is of no value if it is only us doing it.

"Deciding to be saved", "Accepting Christ", or whatever words you want to use there, are not the cause of salvation, but the result. Depend on God to accomplish what he set out to do from the foundation of the earth. The reason he created us is for his own sake --not so much for ours, though it consumes us and fulfills us.
God chooses to 'save us ,because He already sees into our hearts .You are correct ,He does not sit around waiting for us to choose Him ? BUT there is a reason He saves us ,when we were unconcious in our thoughts ,innocent if you will .Those who try to WILL God ,to save them by choosing Him are probably wrong and need to wait patiently on His mercy .
 
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fat wee robin

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So, what happens after you have accepted Christ by faith? Does that mean you can do what you like? Go on committing the works of the flesh? Go on sinning and have Christ too?
Best of British luck buddy when you get to the gates of Heaven!
It's the Irish who are 'Lucky ' now , as it is said . I wonder why ? A retoriqual question ?:clap:
 
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trailmovin

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I got saved and begin calling myself a Christian 2 years ago and finally got baptized a year ago. Even over the last 2 years I have been battling unbelief in God. How can I learn and have trust and believe in God? I think this is due to not going Church as a child, having a narcissist parent that is a unbeliever installing negative about Jesus in me as a teen and dabbing into cults, new age and occult in the past.
 
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trailmovin

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I noticed you said you are battling disbelief in God, and you want to learn to have trust and believe in God. Let Christ lead you, by surrendering more to His guidance, create a disciplined prayer time and be quieter in prayer and let Him speak to you from within. I believe you want a closer walk, but you have to learn to create a time, like with your very best friend.
 
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aiki

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I got saved and begin calling myself a Christian 2 years ago and finally got baptized a year ago. Even over the last 2 years I have been battling unbelief in God. How can I learn and have trust and believe in God? I think this is due to not going Church as a child, having a narcissist parent that is a unbeliever installing negative about Jesus in me as a teen and dabbing into cults, new age and occult in the past.

We've all got stuff that we could use to justify not walking with God. But when you stand before Him one day, you won't be able to say, "It's all my parent's fault that I distrusted you!" You will be responsible for how you chose to live.

There's a true story about two men, brothers, who had grown up under the terrible abuse of a drunken father. One of the two brothers became a pastor of a church. He was admired by his congregation for his gentleness, graciousness and wisdom. His brother, however, went on to become a miserable, violent drunk, notorious for his wicked living. At one point, both brothers were asked, "Why are you the man you are?" To the surprise of the questioner, they gave the very same answer: "With a father like mine, what did you expect?"

The story highlights the fact that we all have a choice in how we respond to our circumstances. They can be used as an excuse to live awfully, or as a motivation to live better. At the moment, you seem to see yourself as a helpless victim of your upbringing, but this is to make others responsible for your choices. God, though, holds you responsible for them; they are your choices, after all.

We don't trust people any farther than we know them. How well do you know God? How much time are you spending in a day studying the special revelation of God given to you in the Bible?

2 Timothy 1:12
12 ...for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Here's the pattern Paul lays out for how our faith grows and shapes our behaviour: knowledge>belief>persuasion>action. We obtain knowledge about God, then we believe what we have come to know about Him, we become fully persuaded that it is true, and then we will trust ourselves to Him. This is the way to coming fully to trust God.
 
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Alithis

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OK so if we have to DO something would we call that work? Well yes that would indeed be work. So are we then being saved by what Jesus did or what we did. Is what Jesus did not sufficient to save us so we have to pitch in and help Him accomplish salvation? Paul makes it abundantly clear, it is faith and not works of any kind that saves us. Jesus made salvation easy just believe in Him, Who He is, and what He did. Why make it complicated, have we not learned from the 613 laws for works that saved no one?
When noah heard God (that took faith) obeyed God (that took action) built the ark and got in it ... He was saved from the judgment by water.
Was he saved from that judgment by sitting at home saying .."..oh yes i believe"
Nope.
Belief without obedient action is called wilful rebellion.
 
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FIRESTORM314

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OK so if we have to DO something would we call that work? Well yes that would indeed be work. So are we then being saved by what Jesus did or what we did. Is what Jesus did not sufficient to save us so we have to pitch in and help Him accomplish salvation? Paul makes it abundantly clear, it is faith and not works of any kind that saves us. Jesus made salvation easy just believe in Him, Who He is, and what He did. Why make it complicated, have we not learned from the 613 laws for works that saved no one?

JOHN 6:29
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
 
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AliveinChrist99

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First I would say take heart God loves you very very much he Gave his only son for you, the fact that your worrying about these things is a good sign, think about it if you weren’t bothered about the things of Jesus would you be posting this on CF, God knows who are his and I pray he wrap you up in his arms and tell you he loves you, there is things you can do to draw yourself closer to God, some really good things mentioned on this post. But I pray you just be still and let God minister to your heart
Dear Lord please minister to my sisters heart today, help her to let the things of the past drift away and be excited about a new future with you, Holy Spirit guide her in all truths and let her heart to be filled with your love.
Bless her today I pray in Jesus precious name Amen
God bless you
I got saved and begin calling myself a Christian 2 years ago and finally got baptized a year ago. Even over the last 2 years I have been battling unbelief in God. How can I learn and have trust and believe in God? I think this is due to not going Church as a child, having a narcissist parent that is a unbeliever installing negative about Jesus in me as a teen and dabbing into cults, new age and occult in the past.
very
 
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FIRESTORM314

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I got saved and begin calling myself a Christian 2 years ago and finally got baptized a year ago. Even over the last 2 years I have been battling unbelief in God. How can I learn and have trust and believe in God? I think this is due to not going Church as a child, having a narcissist parent that is a unbeliever installing negative about Jesus in me as a teen and dabbing into cults, new age and occult in the past.

What does it mean to believe?

Is it more than an acceptance that there is a God? Is it a conclusion a person comes to?

God refers to David as a man after his on heart. This is what King David's heart desired....

The one thing I ask of the LORD--the thing I seek most--is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple.

Our belief in Christ is a reflection of our desires - we believe with our hearts.

We understood the world is faulty, man is faulty, I am faulty. Creation speaks for itself. We listened to the Gospel - realized we are separated from God & desired to be in Union with him. We accept Christ as Savior. Upon believing we received the greatest miracle in the entire bible and that miracle is CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY.

hope that helps.

And I'll add an AMEN to the post above:oldthumbsup:
 
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Mark Quayle

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God chooses to 'save us ,because He already ees into our hearts .You are correct ,He does not sit around waiting for us to choose Him ? BUT there is a reason He saves us ,when we were unconcious in our thoughts ,innocent if you will .Those who try to WILL God ,to save them by choosing Him are probably wrong and need to wait patiently on His mercy .
Can you show me a Scripture passage that says God chooses to save us based on what he sees in our hearts? Are any of us worthy subjects for this method?

There is some truth to what else you say, but you should be careful your conclusions are scriptural, and not merely logical based on your understandings. For example, it was long before we were even conceived in the womb that he chose us. His choosing is not from a pool of possible humans, but his choosing is the reason for creating us.

Next, I must say that to "wait patiently on His mercy" is not a motivation for the unsaved to seek God. They are unable to rightly think in that way. They MUST seek God, but that seeking is not a means to salvation. It is only evidence of God's work within them, or for some, the logical reaction to a good understanding of the implications of the existence of The Creator.
 
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disciple Clint

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When noah heard God (that took faith) obeyed God (that took action) built the ark and got in it ... He was saved from the judgment by water.
Was he saved from that judgment by sitting at home saying .."..oh yes i believe"
Nope.
Belief without obedient action is called wilful rebellion.
So as I said we are saved because of our faith. We do good works because we love God not because we expect our works to save us. You could do lots of good works but if you reject Jesus, its game over.
 
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blackhead

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I got saved and begin calling myself a Christian 2 years ago and finally got baptized a year ago. Even over the last 2 years I have been battling unbelief in God. How can I learn and have trust and believe in God? I think this is due to not going Church as a child, having a narcissist parent that is a unbeliever installing negative about Jesus in me as a teen and dabbing into cults, new age and occult in the past.

The most important thing you can do is find a good church. A place that encourages true growth in the faith. I recommend the LCMS.
 
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